In a vote held on Friday 26 March, the European Collectivity of Alsace (CeA) unanimously decided to authorise its President, Frédéric Bierry, to bring a case to the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, “because of the poor administration of the European Parliament since the beginning of the health crisis, characterised by the absence of a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg since 13 February 2020”.
This maladministration is denounced on two counts: - because of the failure to comply with Protocol 6 of the Treaty on European Union, which provides for the holding of 12 annual plenary sessions in Strasbourg, and; - in view of “the lack of dedicated resources for the Strasbourg sessions, whereas, as of June 2020, the local authorities and the French State have made themselves available to the Parliament in order to establish a strict health protocol”.
On this basis, Mr Bierry will ask the European Ombudsman for “the return of monthly parliamentary sessions in Strasbourg as soon as possible and the taking of compensatory measures such as holding longer sessions or hosting other events or services”.
In particular, France requests that several sessions of the Conference on the Future of Europe be held in Strasbourg.
The procedure will be relayed to the Grand Est Region, the Eurometropole of Strasbourg, and the City of Strasbourg to propose that they “join this initiative to defend the European capital”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)